7 December 2016
See the whole timeline of major crackdowns in Bahrain from May until November 2016.
21 November 2016
Marking 150 days since the siege inflicted in Duraz, the home of the Bahraini Shia spiritual leader Sheikh Isa Qasim, whose citizenship has been revoked in summer, a fact that trigered protests and sit-ins in front of his house in Duraz.
18 November 2016
Bahraini HR defendant Hussain Radhi was charged by the public prosecution with "inciting hatred" against the regime, threatening civil peace and publishing false news. His crime, tweeting and retweeting. Tweets that allegedly documented protests in Bahraini villages like in Duraz.
Radhi had been notified that he was being chargeed just before the 33rd Season of the United Nations Human Rights Council began in September
Read full statement here
16 November 2016
The Bahraini authorities have contined crackdown on HR activists including BCHR members. Some have been called for interogations for over charges of illegal gathering or posting on socila medis plateforms
Reaf full statement here
1 November 2016
On the occasion o fthe International day to end impunity for crimes agianst journalists, BCHR renews calls for accountability and end to impunity for Bahraini journalists and medis professionals, who have fallen victimes to villations since 2011, including arrests, torture and lost of life.
read full statement here
10 October 2016
The Bahraini authorities still continue to enforce lockdown on Duraz after more than 100 days. people are preventing from circulating freely in the area and non resident of Duraz are blocked access to the area including clerics, who intend to gibve daily sermons during religious gatherings. Duraz is a very symbolilic place were many people who gather there to celebrate important events and support their the top shia cleric Sheikh Isa Quassim whose citizenship was revoked by the government.
Read full statement here
See below the socio-economic impact of the internet shutdown in Duraz, Bahrain.
22 September 2016
Bahrain’s second High Civil Court of Appeals today upheld an earlier court decision to dissolve Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, the largest political opposition group in Bahrain. The undersigned NGOs strongly condemn the court’s decision, which is representative of the Government of Bahrain’s broader efforts to silence civil society.
Read the full statement here.
30 August 2016
More Human Rights defenders banned from Travel - Details here
26 August 2016
Bahraini authorities start handing over prison sentences for protesters for peaceful assembly at Duraz sit-in
Two protesters were sentenced to one year of imprisonment each during the last week, after exceptionally speedy trials that lasted a few weeks only.
Read full article here
18 August 2016
Bahraini Authorities Continue Campaign Against Sheikh Isa Qassim and Shia Religious Leaders
The Government of Bahrain has continued to target Shia religious leaders today, as authorities brought an additional charge of “inciting hatred” against Sayed Majeed Misha’al, a Shia cleric and president of the now dissolved Islamic Ulamaa Council (IUC). On 20 June 2016, Sayed Majeed declared the start of a peaceful sit-in at the village of Duraz to protest of the government’s decision to denaturalize Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim, the spiritual leader of Bahrain’s Shia population. Sayed Majeed and Sheikh Isa are among at least 56 Shia religious figures and clerics subjected to judicial harassment by Bahraini authorities in the last three months. The undersigned NGO strongly condemn the government’s ongoing persecution of the Bahraini Shia community and call on it to halt all legal proceedings against Shia religious leaders such as Sayed Majeed Misha’al and Sheikh Isa Qassim.
Read full article here
15 August 2016
Gov’t Prosecutes Religious Freedoms Advocate Sheikh Maytham Al-Salman and Rights Activist Al-Derazi for “Illegal Gathering”
Bahrain's authorities today charged with illegal gathering the human rights defender and scholarSheikh Maytham Al-Salman and activist and medic Dr. Taha Al-Derazi following their arrests and interrogations yesterday. Al-Salman has been released on bail, while Al-Derazi is remanded in custody.
Read full article here
10 August 2016
Bahrain Escalates Arrests of Protesters at Duraz Sit-in, Continues to Criminalize and Threaten Freedom of Assembly
In the past week, the authorities have escalated their targeting of protesters in Duraz. The number of individuals summoned and arrested over the past week has substantially increased. We strongly condemn the Government of Bahrain’s violation of the protesters’ right to peaceful assembly and we raise concerns over the safety of the remaining protesters at the Duraz sit-in.
On 20 June 2016, the Bahraini authorities revoked the citizenship of Bahrain’s Shia spiritual leader Sheikh Isa Qasim. His supporters took to the streets in numbers unprecedented since 2011. With reports of the authorities’ intention to forcibly deport him, the protesters staged an open sit-in.
Read the full article here
1 August 2016
Independent and Impartial Investigation Needed into the Death and Alleged Torture of Detainee
The undersigned NGOs call on the government of Bahrain to immediately launch an independent and impartial investigation into the death of 35-year-old detainee Hassan Jassim Hasan Al-Hayki amid credible allegations of torture. Officials must prosecute and hold accountable anyone found to have caused or contributed to Mr. Al-Hayki’s death. These torture allegations also raise further concerns regarding the inability of the Ministry of the Interior’s Ombudsman and the Prisoners and Detainees Rights Commission (PDRC) to prevent ongoing abuses in Bahrain’s detention centers.
Read full article here
27 July 2016
Continued Crackdown on Clerics and Freedom of Religion and Assembly
The Bahraini government has intensified state restrictions on the right to freedom of religion for the country’s Shia majority. While the authorities have obstructed and prosecuted Shia religious practices, they have simultaneously escalated their use of repressive measures against the country’s religious clerics. The government has targeted Shia clerics with summons, arrests, and judicial harassment, and has rendered leading cleric Sheikh Isa Qassim stateless.
Khums, a major religious practice and obligation for those of the Shia faith, is an annual payment undertaken by Shia Muslims to Shia clerics, who then distribute the money to orphans, other vulnerable members of society, and projects to improve the community. The aim of Khums is to promote social solidarity and eliminate poverty.Sources have also indicated that many families of Bahrain’s prisoners of conscience are dependent upon this money. It is believed that the Bahraini government is charging Shia clerics with allegations of illegal fundraising due solely to their central role in this long-established religious practice.
Read full article here
19 July 2016
Bahraini human rights defender and correspondent for France 24 and Radio Monte Carlo, Nazeeha has fallen once again victim of the government’s crackdown on freedom of expression.
Saeed was arrested for the first time in May 2011, after covering the pro-democracy movement spreading throughout the country, she was subjected to beatings and torture while in police custody, and released only after signing a false confession. Describing her torture, Saeed said she was “blindfolded, kicked, punched, and slapped. Her hair was pulled, she was whipped with plastic tubing, had a shoe forced into her mouth and her head dunked into a toilet. An unknown, caustic liquid said to be urine was poured onto her face, she was repeatedly insulted and mentally abused and asked to make a false confession.”
Read full article here
18 July 2016
The list of travel bans imposed on human rights defenders and civil society members has doubled. BCHR has now documented 25 cases of travel bans, 23 of which have been imposed since June 2016. This violates the rights of those individuals to freedom of movement according to Bahrain’s own Constitution. The list is believed to be longer – however, individuals cannot find out they’re banned from traveling until they attempt to leave the country.
Read full article here
17 July 2016
Today, 17 July 2016, the Bahrain High Civil Court ordered the dissolution of the largest opposition political society in the country, Al-Wefaq Political Society, and the liquidation of its assets
On 14 June 2016, Bahraini authorities ordered that Al-Wefaq Society be suspended, and then froze all its assets, halted all of its activities, and closed its headquarters following the Ministry of Justice’s request to the High Civil Court for an emergency order to shutdown the society. The court decision, and the execution of this order was quickly made and the society’s headquarters were sieged and closed, and its website was blocked throughout Bahrain. Although the court had set 6 October 2016, as the commencement of the case to dissolve Al-Wefaq, the hearing was brought forward to 23 June 2016, based on the Ministry of Justice’s request. The court twice moved the hearings to earlier dates than previously scheduled.
Read full article here
14 July 2016
The Government of Bahrain is targeting public sector employees found in photos and videos of sit-ins with arrest and further punishment.
Since 20 June 2016, thousands of citizens have been gathering at a peaceful sit-in in Diraz around the house of Shia spiritual leader Sheikh Issa Qassim, whose citizenship was revoked that day. After the sit-in began, many pro-government social media accounts have started to call for individuals to publish the photos of the protesters so they can be identified and consequently punished, including imprisonment, cutting their government services such as housing, and suspending them from their jobs, among other penalties. Reminiscent of the mass and widespread “witch hunt” of 2011, several Twitter handlers, some with thousands of followers, have started identifying protesters, publishing their photos, and calling them traitors.
Read full article here
13 July 2016
In the days after the government’s decision to denaturalize Sheikh Isa Qassim, rendering him stateless, police established blockades closing off most of the roads leading into and out of Duraz. All major and minor entrances have been sealed off, and there are now only two entrances to Duraz. One is on Budaiya Highway and the other is the entrance to Saar from Barbar. The others are currently blocked with concrete slabs, sandbags, police cars, and barbed wire. At the two entrances left opened, there are queues to enter and leave which can take anywhere between 15 and 60 minutes to pass through.
A variety of different security officials staff the checkpoints. Personnel at checkpoints include Public Security officers, traffic police, plain-clothes officers, and community police.
This restrictions on free movement intensified during Eid Al-Fitr, the celebration at the end of Ramadan, on 5-6 July. Families were not able to visit relatives resident in Duraz, and many were unable to participate in celebrations. The Abu Subh beach park, located in Duraz and typically busy during Eid, was virtually empty.
Read full statement here
27 June 2016
On 26 June 2016, the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, the Bahraini authorities deported human rights lawyer Taimoor Karimi, a torture survivor whose citizenship was revoked in 2012. The Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) strongly condemns the Bahraini authorities’ actions against human rights defenders including Karimi.
Karimi was previously arrested in 2011, after which he alleged being subjected to torture while in detention. As a human rights lawyer, he defended political detainees, before his license to practice law was revoked, due to being stateless.
Read full statement here
23 June 2016
BCHR Satement denounce further security measeures and arrests to control protests as crackdown on activism persist, following the citizen revopcation of Sheikh Isa Qasim.
Police forces use fireguns on protesters. BCHR’s team on the ground has documented several protests where the police have taken forceful measures to end the protests including the use of tear gas and shotgun pellets. From 20 to 22 June 2016, a total of 46 peaceful protests took place in Bahrain, of which ten were attacked by the riot police.
The Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR)’s team on the ground is documenting the Authorities’ crackdown on peaceful dissent and human rights activism. This is a regularly updated timeline of the Government of Bahrain’s recent escalated repression- the worst since the period of national safety in 2011.
Read full statement here here
21 June 2016
Keith Harper, US Ambassador of the United Nations Human Rights Council on the issue of revocation of citizenship of Sheikh Isa Qassim.
Police suppressed peaceful protesters in Bilad Alqadeem and alDair with the use of tear gas.
20 June 2016
Peaceful protesters in the cities of Aali and Juffair were attacked by the police with shotguns.
The Ministry of Interior (MOI) issued a statement announcing the revocation of the citizenship of a top Shia religious leader, Sheikh Isa Qasim, without any due process. The MOI cited Article 10 (c) of the Bahraini Nationality Law to justify its decision to revoke his citizenship, stating “if he causes damage to the interest of’ the state or took action contrary to the duty or loyalty to it.”
Shortly after this decision, thousands of Sheikh Qasim’s supporters gathered in front of his house in Duraz, in solidarity to protest the decision. The gathering soon turned into a sit-in, and people vowed not to leave the area. The MOI threatened “against calls inciting security disturbances. Legal action will be taken against violators.” The area where the sit-in is staged is reported to be surrounded by a heavy security presence.
U.S. Department of State expresses its deep concern over the situation.
Read more here.
14 to 16 June 2016
The Ministry of Social Development closed down two non-profit religious societies: Al-Risala Islamic Society and the Islamic Enlightenment Society (Al-Taweya). Access to the website of the latter was immediately blocked in Bahrain. The Public Prosecution said in a statement on 15 June that it has completed an investigation into the “instances of illegal fund-raising and money-laundering” attributed to officials from these societies. The head of Al-Risala society, Mahmood Al-Arab was arrested on 14 June 2016 and currently remains in custody.
Shaikh Mohamed Sanqoor was suspended from conducting sermons and leading Friday prayers at Imam Sadiq Mosque in Al-Deraz, where the largest Shia Friday prayer is held on a weekly basis.
These actions have been accompanied with a rise in the summons, and interrogations, of clerics. On 15 June 2016, at least nine clerics received a summons to attend an interrogation the following day, for what the Public Prosecution stated was an investigation into allegations of “illegal collection of money”, in an attack of one of the most important Shia religious duties.
Read more here.
14 June 2016
Bahrain’s Ministry of Justice submitted a request to the Administrative Court for an emergency order to shutdown al-Wefaq. The court approved the request two hours later, which went into effect immediately. Bahraini authorities ordered al-Wefaq be suspended, then froze all of the society’s assets, halted all of its activities, and closed the headquarters.
Read more here.
13 June 2016
Bahraini forces surrounded Rajab’s home and arrested him. After conducting a thorough search, the police confiscated his electronic devices. Eight hours after Rajab’s arrest, he contacted his family to inform them that his interrogation had yet to begin. On 14 June 2016, Rajab was transferred to the public prosecution; new charges brought against him were “publishing and broadcasting false news that undermines the prestige of the state.” The public prosecution remanded him to seven days in detention pending investigation.
Read more here, and:
Regularly Updated Page on the Arrest and Detention of BCHR's President Nabeel Rajab
13 June 2016
The Bahraini King promulgated a bill amending the 2005 Political Societies Law, placing a ban on participation in political decision-making based on discriminatory religious grounds. The new law includes an article stating that “political societies’ heads and leaders shouldn’t be religious preachers, even if they occupy the position in the societies’ without being paid.”
Although this amendment restricts an individual’s ability to practice political activity via civil society associations, it does not stop the government from appointing any clerics who support its views directly into the Shura council, where currently at least two clerics are members appointed by royal decree.
Read more here.
10 to 19 June 2016
Bahraini authorities have banned human rights defenders from leaving the country. The bans were imposed as the activists were attempting to travel from Bahrain International Airport to Geneva to participate in the 32nd Session of UNHRC. BCHR has thus far documented 12 cases of travel ban, including BCHR’s own member Hussain Radhi.
Read more here, and BCHR call for an end to reprisals against human rights defenders.
30 May 2016
The Bahraini Court of Appeal more than doubled the sentence against Sheikh Ali Salman, Secretary-General of Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, to nine years in prison, instead of his initial four year imprisonment sentence. The court convicted him of “attempting to overthrow the regime”, the exact same charge on which he was previously acquitted.
Read more here.
29 May to 2 June 2016
Bahraini courts upheld death penalty sentence against three individuals, handed down lengthy imprisonment sentences, and revoked the citizenship of dozens of Bahrainis.
Read more:
Within Three Days, Bahrain Courts Revoke Citizenship of 33 People.